NCJ Number
172045
Journal
Journal of Forensic Sciences Volume: 42 Issue: 3 Dated: (May 1997) Pages: 364-367
Date Published
1997
Length
4 pages
Annotation
Forensic botany can play a valuable role in criminal investigations, but it has been underused because of the lack of botanical knowledge among most people involved in criminal investigations.
Abstract
Plants have long been used as both weapons and evidence in criminal investigations. In America, plants as poisoning agents have always been well known, but only since the Lindbergh kidnapping trial have other kinds of botanical evidence gained legal acceptance. Although forensic botany has been underused in criminal investigations over the years, resourceful investigators and scientists with initiative are beginning to change this. Now, evidence from plant systematics (the study of evolutionary relationships among plants), palynology (study of pollen), plant anatomy (characteristics of the cellulose cell wall), plant ecology, and related fields is acceptable. Forensic botany is useful in the examination of gastric contents in homicide victims. It can help determine the contents and location of a victim's last meal. If a victim has been moved from the location of death, plant analysis can determine whether plant remnants on the body are characteristic of the vegetation where the body was found or of some other location where the victim was killed. Also, the finding of clandestine graves includes the use of plant ecologists who can recognize localized, unusual areas of plant succession. 14 references